Fred Campbell, director of the Communications
Fred Campbell, director of the Communications Liberty and Innovation Project at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, questioned in a blog post Thursday whether the FCC can mandate a single band plan for the lower 700 MHz band, as favored by smaller…
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carriers and opposed by AT&T (http://bit.ly/13djmBA). Campbell offered a discussion on the topic, in the form a parody of “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems,” which Galileo penned in 1632, attempting to prove that the earth revolves around the sun. “SIMPLICIO. I do not mean to join the number of those who are too curious about the mysteries of physics. But as to the point at hand, I reply that licensees in the A Block are asking the FCC to impose an interoperability mandate for competitive reasons,” Campbell wrote. “AT&T, who owns spectrum in the lower 700 MHz B and C Blocks, has deployed only Band Class 17, which excludes the A Block. Licensees in the A Block must use Band Class 12, which is not supported by AT&T. That is preventing A Block licensees from taking advantage of AT&T’s economies of scale for purchasing devices and roaming on its network. This seems to be conclusive evidence that AT&T excluded Band Class 12 from its B and C Block devices to raise the costs of its rivals, a form of anticompetitive behavior.” A second speaker, Sagredo, replies: “I do not claim to comprehend the mysteries of physics, but I have some knowledge of the laws governing competition. The law does not penalize a company merely for being successful in the marketplace -- it prohibits only anticompetitive behavior that is ‘unreasonable’ or ‘wrongful.’ The fact that AT&T’s decision to deploy Band Class 17 may incidentally raise its rivals’ costs is irrelevant if AT&T had legitimate business reasons to make that decision.”